Praise for the award-winning Lutterworth team who drove the biggest vaccine rollout in British history

Mr Costa praised them as he visited Movianto’s new vaccine distribution centre at Magna Park near Lutterworth.

The major set-up is the central hub for Covid-19 and childhood vaccines in the UK.

Movianto, working alongside the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS Supply Chain, had to create and launch a high-powered logistical operation for the ground-breaking Covid-19 vaccines.

“I was delighted to visit Movianto at Magna Park in order to see the tremendous work they have been doing throughout the pandemic to distribute huge numbers of the Covid vaccine.

“I am proud that the UK was one of the world leaders in rolling out our successful vaccination programme,” said Mr Costa.

“And I am most grateful to the fantastic team at Movianto for their tireless work in delivering so many millions of vaccines to the NHS frontline.”

Movianto has since delivered more than 160 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the frontline NHS.

And the specialist healthcare logistics firm has won a prestigious award for its innovative lifesaving and trailblazing work during the pandemic.

Movianto’s UK president Paul Wilkinson said: “I’ve worked in logistics for more than 30 years - and it’s safe to say the Covid vaccine operation has been the biggest challenge of my life.

“At the start, we didn’t even know the storage criteria.

“We weren’t aware of what the volume would be and - as importantly - we didn’t know when the programme was likely to start,” said Mr Wilkinson.

“But we did know that we’d have to do it at break-neck speed and we knew people’s lives would be relying on it.

“There was a lot of pressure on everyone.

“I’m extraordinarily proud of my whole team.

“They’ve had to be creative, resilient and tenacious to make it happen.

“But as our job is behind the scenes, it can be overlooked,” he added.

About 100 people work at the Movianto vaccine distribution centre, which officially opened at the end of 2021.

Movianto recently won the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Awards for Excellence 2021 for Supply Chain Innovation for its Covid-19 vaccine work.